1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a control method of a development apparatus for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier such as photoconductors with a liquid developer composed of a toner, a carrier liquid and a dispersant and to an image forming apparatus. In more detail, the invention relates to a control method of an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer and a facsimile by transferring a developed liquid developer image on a latent image carrier onto a transfer material such as paper to obtain an image and to an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
In an image forming apparatus using a liquid developer, there is proposed an image forming apparatus for recovering chiefly a toner by cleaning for the purpose of recovering an excessive toner by an excessive toner collecting unit and making a liquid carrier remain on a photoconductor (see, for example, JP-A-2002-268394).
Also, for the purpose of suppressing the generation of an excessive toner, there is proposed a method for cleaning a liquid developer by a polyurethane-made cleaning blade or the like (see, for example, JP-A-2002-287517).
However, in the case where a toner is recovered by cleaning at the finishing time of printing to make a carrier liquid remain on a latent image carrier, since wettability of the surface of the latent image carrier is affected by a dispersant remaining in the carrier liquid on a photoconductor, there is caused unevenness in concentration of a developing solution on the latent image carrier at the time of subsequent development.
Also, in the case when printing is finished in a state that the carrier liquid is made to remain on the latent image carrier, the carrier liquid flowed downward due to gravity, thereby causing a fault of contaminating the inside of the apparatus. Also, in the case where cleaning is performed using a cleaning blade, the dispersant remained on the latent image carrier together with a part of the carrier liquid, and characteristics of the developing solution changed at the time of subsequent development, thereby possibly causing unevenness in concentration.